[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 135 (Wednesday, October 25, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H10883]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE TOM BLILEY, CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Bliley) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLILEY. Mr. Speaker, in an effort to provide a complete 
legislative record, I am providing the CBO cost estimates for H.R. 762, 
the Lupus Research and Care Amendments of 2000, and H.R. 3850, the 
Independent Telecommunications Consumer Enhancement Act of 2000, which 
were not included in the Committee's reports on the bills.
                                                    U.S. Congress,


                                   Congressional Budget Office

                                  Washington, DC, October 4, 2000.
     Hon. Tom Bliley,
     Chairman, Committee on Commerce, House of Representatives, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
     prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3850, the 
     Independent Telecommunications Consumer Enhancement Act of 
     2000.
       If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
     pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Ken 
     Johnson, who can be reached at 226-2860.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Barry B. Anderson
                                   (for Dan L. Crippen, Director).
       Enclosure.

       CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE, OCTOBER 4, 2000

 H.R. 3850: Independent Telecommunications Consumer Enhancement Act of 
    2000, As Ordered Reported by the House Committee on Commerce on 
                           September 14, 2000

       H.R. 3850 would exempt small telecommunications carriers 
     from certain rules and reporting requirements administered by 
     the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The bill would 
     relieve small carriers from the requirement to maintain 
     separate affiliates to provide advanced telecommunications 
     services. This provision could alter payments that such firms 
     receive from the Universal Service Fund. The legislation also 
     would require that the FCC grant or deny merger petitions 
     from small telecommunications firms within 60 days, and all 
     reconsideration and waiver petitions within 90 days.
       CBO estimates that H.R. 3850 would have no significant 
     impact on the federal budget. The bill could, however, have 
     small effects on both direct spending and governmental 
     receipts (revenues), so pay-as-you-go procedures would apply. 
     H.R. 3850 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
     mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 
     (UMRA) and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal 
     governments.
       Based on information from the FCC, CBO estimates that the 
     agency would spend about $3 million a year to implement H.R. 
     3850. The commission would need more staff to investigate the 
     costs incurred by small telecommunications carriers, which 
     the bill would exempt from certain reporting requirements. 
     The FCC also would have to hire additional personnel to 
     review merger, reconsideration, and waiver petitions in order 
     to meet the bill's deadlines for acting on such petitions. 
     Under current law, enforcement and regulatory costs that the 
     agency incurs are offset by fees charged to the industries 
     that the FCC regulates. Therefore, CBO expects that the net 
     effect on the FCC's appropriated spending would be 
     negligible.
       H.R. 3850 would affect governmental receipts and direct 
     spending in two ways. First, it could allow small 
     telecommunications carriers to receive larger payments from 
     the Universal Service Fund to support the added costs of 
     providing advanced telecommunications services. Using the 
     Universal Service Fund established by the Telecommunications 
     Act of 1996, the FCC seeks to provide universal access to 
     telecommunications services, in part through assessments on 
     telephone companies to finance payments to companies that 
     serve high-cost regions. Receipts to the Universal Service 
     Fund are recorded as governmental receipts, and payments do 
     not require annual appropriation action. Based on information 
     from the FCC and the Universal Service Administrative 
     Company, CBO estimates that any change in the Universal 
     Service Fund's spending resulting from this legislation would 
     not be significant and would be offset by either lower 
     payments to other companies or higher revenues.
       Second, H.R. 3850 would affect application fees the FCC 
     collects to offset costs associated with tariff filings and 
     other applications from the telecommunications industry. 
     Those licensing fees are recorded as offsetting receipts. 
     Based on information from the FCC, CBO expects that H.R. 3850 
     could affect the number of tariffs filed by small 
     telecommunications carriers. However, CBO estimates that the 
     resulting change, if any, in receipts from application fees 
     would not be significant.
       The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Ken Johnson, who 
     can be reached at 226-2860. This estimate was approved by 
     Robert A. Sunshine, Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
                                  ____

                                                    U.S. Congress,


                                  Congressional Budget Office,

                                 Washington, DC, October 13, 2000.
     Hon. Tom Bliley,
     Chairman, Committee on Commerce, House of Representatives, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
     prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 762, the Lupus 
     Research and Care Amendments of 2000.
       If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
     pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Alexis K. 
     Ahlstrom, who can be reached at 226-9010.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Barry B. Anderson
                                   (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
       Enclosure.

      CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE, OCTOBER 13, 2000

H.R. 762: Lupus Research and Care Amendments of 2000, as Passed by the 
              House of Representatives on October 10, 2000

       H.R. 762 would require the Director of the National 
     Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases 
     (NIAMSD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand 
     and intensify research and related activities of the 
     institute regarding lupus. The NIH will spend approximately 
     $50 million on lupus research this year. The act would 
     require the Director to coordinate activities with similar 
     activities conducted by other national research institutes 
     and agencies of the NIH. The act also would require NIAMSD to 
     conduct or support research to expand the understanding of 
     the causes of lupus, and to increase research into finding a 
     cure for the disease.
       H.R. 762 would authorized grants for the establishment, 
     operation, and coordination of delivery of essential services 
     to individuals with lupus and their families. The act also 
     would regulate charges (such as enrollment fees, premiums, 
     deductible, cost sharing, copayments, coinsurance, or other 
     charges) imposed by grantees on service recipients.
       H.R. 762 would authorize the appropriation of such sums as 
     necessary to carry out the act's provisions in fiscal years 
     2001 through 2003. At this time, CBS cannot estimate how much 
     would be necessary to implement H.R. 762. However, because 
     the act would not affect direct spending or receipts, pay-as-
     you-go procedures would not apply.
       H.R. 762 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
     mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 
     State and local governments, as well as a number of community 
     and nonprofit organizations, would be eligible for grants 
     established by H.R. 762 for the purpose of delivering and 
     enhancing health care and related services for individuals 
     with lupus.
       The CBO staff contact is Alexis K. Ahlstrom, who can be 
     reached at 226-9010. This estimate was approved by Peter H. 
     Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

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